Need dessert ideas on very restrictive diet

Big5BigChange

Hi - my brother is visiting me. Unfortunately, he recently suffered a number of minor heart attacks and had stents put in his arteries. He is young and was not even overweight, but his eating habits were bad. To his enormous credit, he has completely overhauled his diet and is in better shape than ever. I am cooking for him and both our families and I want us to all eat the same thing. No problem at all on the main courses. However, I'd love to treat him to a sumptuous dessert. Unfortunately, he is avoiding all saturated fats, egg yolks, all refined/processed foods (e.g. white flour, rice etc) and heavily restricting sugar and last but not least - bananas (so many "low sugar" baking uses mashed banana instead! i.e. ALL the normal ingredients of BAKING!

Other than a nice fruit salad (which can be lovely if all else fails), I wondered if any of you had some fabulous, inventive recipes for desserts/puddings/cakes that inspire that "wow, I can't believe that isn't bad for me" reaction!

(and PLEASE no posts on "why are you trying to knock him off track" etc. The point is, I'm NOT. I'm looking for great recipes where I can show him I care and that I support him on this journey into his new life.)

THANK YOU!

elphie754

What about sugar free pudding or sugar free jello? You can make a jello mold with fresh fruit inside, or just plain jello with some cool whip (if he eats that). Pudding can be great by itself, or in my family we throw blue berries and strawberries on top.

Edit-spelling thanks to autocorrect

rainbowbow

elphie754 wrote: »

What about sugar free pudding or sugar free jello? You can make a jello mold with fresh fruit inside, or just plain hellos with some cool whip (if he eats that). Puffing can be great by itself, or in my family we throw blue berries and strawberries on top.

This is what i'd suggest. You could also do a sugar free chocolate pudding and top it with dark chocolate shavings.

You could pour and set them in individual cups so that it's extra fancy.

Determinedtoloseliz

How about tofu ice cream? Or a crumble made with oat top?

AlabasterVerve

"Other than a nice fruit salad (which can be lovely if all else fails)"

If you go that route I'd make a watermelon cake. It's pretty much a fruit salad but they look so festive and delicious.

elphie754

Determinedtoloseliz wrote: »

How about tofu ice cream? Or a crumble made with oat top?

Tofu ice cream? Does this taste as disgusting as it sounds?

AnnieintheN0rth

I use this dessert when I want something sweet. It doesn't look the fanciest but it tastes just like chocolate brownie mix so I don't care.

30 dates (soak if using dry dates)
3 tbsp cocoa powder
pinch of salt

Whizz them together in the blender, you make need to add water to a get a 'brownie mix' consistency if the dates were too dry. You have to try these to believe them!

If that doesn't float your boat, try Google 'Healthy Vegan Desserts'. They automatically cut out anything with cream, butter, eggs and (usually) use substitutes like dates and maple syrup for sweetness instead of processed white sugar. Be aware though that even though these dessert may be made with whole food and ingredients from your brother's 'permitted' list, some of them are still high in fat because of the amount of nuts or coconut cream used!

Best of luck to your brother in his recovery and kudos for being so thoughtful and supporting his new healthy choices!

rainbowbow

AnnieintheN0rth wrote: »

I use this dessert when I want something sweet. It doesn't look the fanciest but it tastes just like chocolate brownie mix so I don't care.

30 dates (soak if using dry dates)
3 tbsp cocoa powder
pinch of salt

Whizz them together in the blender, you make need to add water to a get a 'brownie mix' consistency if the dates were too dry. You have to try these to believe them!

If that doesn't float your boat, try Google 'Healthy Vegan Desserts'. They automatically cut out anything with cream, butter, eggs and (usually) use substitutes like dates and maple syrup for sweetness instead of processed white sugar. Be aware though that even though these dessert may be made with whole food and ingredients from your brother's 'permitted' list, some of them are still high in fat because of the amount of nuts or coconut cream used!

Best of luck to your brother in his recovery and kudos for being so thoughtful and supporting his new healthy choices!

if your brother is even remotely watching his sugar intake as you suggest.... do not go this route. This is a classic example of people equating fruits and vegetables as "healthy!" strictly because they're from a "natural" source.


Her recipe is over 2,000 calories and 479 g of sugar. This is the equivalent of drinking 12 cans of coke in one sitting.

Not only are most of these vegan "healthier" recipes SUPER high in sugar, they're also usually SUPER high in calories (most of the time even more than the food they're trying to emulate). Dates, cashews, coconut, syrups, these are all common ingredients that add a huge impact to a recipe's overall calories.

fireytiger

You could do frozen yogurt "bark", basically you smooth out a thin amount of yogurt (usually vanilla) and then put stuff on top like chopped up fruit, maybe a couple of dark chocolate chips, etc. and then freeze for a few hours until solid. Then you break it up and eat it as if it were pieces of chocolate. There's a lot of good examples online if you search "frozen yogurt bark".

tequila5000

My idea is a make your own "fruit bouquet " . You could even ask him what are his favorite fruits and incorporate those.

Just google "make your own fruit bouquet" and you will see what I mean.

vingogly

Fat free mascarpone or ricotta cheese (or a mix of the two) with fruit and a little vanilla (fresh fruit can be macerated with a liqueur or other alcoholic beverage if that's not restricted) sweetened with stevia or Splenda, a couple of spoonfuls of nuts and low-fat granola for crunch and texture. That makes a really good dessert (at least to my taste).

If you google "low sugar low fat cake recipes" there are a lot of recipes out there. Also check out Evelyn Tribole's "Healthy Homestyle Desserts" -- I haven't used this cookbook, but have her other two healthy homestyle cookbooks and they're quite good. You might find good recipes there.

mathandcats

elphie754 wrote: »

Determinedtoloseliz wrote: »

How about tofu ice cream? Or a crumble made with oat top?

Tofu ice cream? Does this taste as disgusting as it sounds?

I've never had tofu 'ice cream', but silken tofu can make very nice pudding-like tarts (or just pudding, I suppose). I don't even like tofu, but you can't really taste it. It's not really any 'healthier' than making the similar thing with dairy, but it is a dairy-free option if needed. There is still a lot of saturated fat in silken tofu, so it's not really an option in this situation.

lynn_glenmont

Chocolate avocado mousse? Here's one you can make with cocoa powder (unsweetened), stevia rather than sugar, and no fat other than what's in avocado and whatever milk you choose to use (avocado is predominantly monounsaturated fat -- I don't think completely cutting out saturated fat is realistic, as pretty much everything that has fat has a mixture of saturated and unsaturated, but you can emphasize fat sources that are predominantly unsaturated).

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2015/10/15/avocado-chocolate-mousse-vegan-healthy/

I would top with raspberries rather than strawberries, myself.

If you want to go fancier, you could make half the mousse without chocolate, add mint (extract, or steep mint leaves in the milk) to the non-chocolate portion (or both portions), and either layer or do a vertical half-and-half pour into a parfait glass. I saw this on Martin Yan's cooking show "Yan Can Cook" years ago -- I forget who the guest chef was who came up with this idea. I made it once, and it was very good. To be clear, the basic recipe wasn't the one I linked above, but to the best of my memory, it sounds similar (other than I'm sure on the cooking show they used real sugar).

It occurs to me, depending on what your family's favorite flavors are, you could do things other than mint for the second flavor, like coconut (extract), almond (extract), or peanut butter (you could try a defatted peanut powder like PB2, or one that doesn't have added sugar, or just use a sugar free peanut butter)

If you go with a fruit salad, a nice topping is to combine a little brown sugar with non-fat or low-fat sour cream or greek yogurt (a variation on Barbados cream)--or you could use an artificial sweetener like stevia if you think it's necessary. You could do individual parfait glasses if you feel that is fancier. Personally, I like a "family-style" presentation of the entire fruit salad in a cut-glass bowl, with the

NaturalNancy

elphie754 wrote: »

What about sugar free pudding or sugar free jello? You can make a jello mold with fresh fruit inside, or just plain jello with some cool whip (if he eats that). Pudding can be great by itself, or in my family we throw blue berries and strawberries on top.

Edit-spelling thanks to autocorrect

This!

JenHuedy

How about ricotta cheesecake? It's not anything like a cream cheese based cheesecake, and isn't supposed to be. (It's more common in Europe). I've made a reduced fat/sugar/calorie version that's yummy with fruit and a drizzle of honey on top. Start with 15-16 oz container low fat ricotta, blend with 8oz Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup egg substitute, 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour, 1cup Splenda for baking, juice & zest of 1 lemon and one scraped vanilla bean. Pour into 6-8" greased spring form pan or individual ramekins. Bake @ 350 degrees in 1" water bath (Cover bottom outside of springform w foil first) for 45 min if using springform, 20-30 for ramekins; until outside is set and center slightly jiggles. Let cool at room temp 30 min then refrigerate.

elphie754

JenHuedy wrote: »

How about ricotta cheesecake? It's not anything like a cream cheese based cheesecake, and isn't supposed to be. (It's more common in Europe). I've made a reduced fat/sugar/calorie version that's yummy with fruit and a drizzle of honey on top. Start with 15-16 oz container low fat ricotta, blend with 8oz Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup egg substitute, 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour, 1cup Splenda for baking, juice & zest of 1 lemon and one scraped vanilla bean. Pour into 6-8" greased spring form pan or individual ramekins. Bake @ 350 degrees in 1" water bath (Cover bottom outside of springform w foil first) for 45 min if using springform, 20-30 for ramekins; until outside is set and center slightly jiggles. Let cool at room temp 30 min then refrigerate.

They clearly said he wants to stay away from flour.

battyfitch

What about meringues made with sweetener (is that allowed?) crushed up and layered with lightly sweetened fat free Greek yogurt & vanilla extract, and strawberries macerated in a touch more sweetener and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Like an Eton mess.

battyfitch

You could add other berries to it as well.

shadowfax_c11

Yogurt parfait. Layers of yogurt, fresh fruit, nuts, shredded coconut, with a few dark chocolate mini morsels on top.

Any kind of fruits will work. You want it cut in small pieces.

filmgal30

Have you thought about asking your brother what kind of desserts he does/doctor says he can eat now and go from there? As someone who also has a very restrictive diet that's what I'd prefer rather than someone guessing.

Lounmoun

Yogurt parfait. You can sprikle on things like ginger or nutmeg. Gelatin. Grilled peaches or pineapple or a baked apple maybe.

lorrpb

This is just as good for dessert even though it says "breakfast" in the title. It's fairly calorie dense, but packed with nutrition & protein. Small squares are all you need. I get 12 pieces out of a 9x9 pan.
Berry Banana Steel Cut Oats and Quinoa Breakfast Bake
http://ifoodreal.com/berry-banana-quinoa-and-steel-cut-oats-breakfast-bake/

Big5BigChange

I have been out all day and have just got home to this thread. I am overwhelmed. THANKS TO ALL OF YOU for taking the time to reply and with such fantastic ideas. I love the imaginative ways of using the fruit via "flower bouquets" and "watermelon cake" - so cool.

Also love the ideas using yogurt - bark/parfait etc - sounds great and refreshing. Also love the chocolate avocado mousse idea (yes, he is allowed avocados in moderation - like us all!)

And to those I haven't mentioned specifically....still, thank you. Such great ideas. I'm very grateful. xxx

fireflyring

Suger free raspberry jelly, fat free raspberry yoghurt, berry fruits.
Place fruit in ramekin mix jelly per instructions when cooled but not set whisk in yoghurt, pour over fruit place in fridge and leave to set it delicious.

boolz

Angel food cake is listed as 0% saturated fat. Have fresh strawberries with that. You could even have a topping bar, so all could tailor it to their preferences.

nvmomketo

I would use stevia drops in any baking. 1-2 drops is about a teaspoon of sugar (to taste) and a dropperful is about a 1/4 c of sugar.

I would avoid dates, raisens or other fruits as sweeteners. they are sweet due to their sugars. They won't work for a a low sugar dessert.

There are xylitol sweetened chocolate chips out there that would go well in cookies or cheese cake. Coconut flakes is a nice mild sweetness.

If you want to bake with flour, use coconut or almnd flour. Other flours will raise blood glucose much more.

A crustless cheese cake is probably a safe bet. I have made pumpkin, vanilla and chocolate ones using stevia. I like them but those that like a lot of sugar aren't thrilled by them. It takes a while to get used to less sweetness. Sugar free pudding and some whip cream and berries is a safe bet. I also like mashed avocado, vanilla, stevia and cocoa as a dessert with some whipped cream. Or just whipped cream with berries.

Making a meal without a large dessert focus might be even more supportive. Bring out some nuts, cheeses and fruits to snack on in the evening. Maybe a nice coffee. After a great meal, you don't need more anyways.

Runfast2017

Shredded apples with honey and cinnamon, delicious.

Boiled apples, plums and rhubarb mixed together.

Apple crumble: baked apples or any fruit with oatmeal on top and a little brown sugar.

Coconut oil, oatmeal blueberry muffins.

Smoothie: watermelon, strawberries, blueberries, nuts etc.

Plain yogurt with nuts and raspberries and little cinnamon.

I lost 80 pound with these deserts.

liznotyet

1 block silken organic tofu in the blender with a cup of melted dark chocolate chips = 6 servings of delicious chocolate mousse, no cooking required, pairs well with low glycemic index berries. Adapted from Alton Brown recipe.

JstTheWayIam

Check out the protein chef on YouTube, he is awesome.

Big5BigChange

Thank you for the great ideas everyone.